Life — July 14, 1927 — page 28: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Li THESILENT DRAMA. “-* “The Way of All Flesh” R EMEMBERING “Bella Don- na,” the first picture in which Pola Negri starred after being trans planted from Berlin to Hollywood, a good many of us twitched ner vously at the thought of Emil Jan- nings in an American-made Well—the twitchings are over. “The Way of All Flesh.” Mr nings is as good as he was in‘ Last Laugh” and “Variety,” if better; the picture itself, while not quite up to the high level of these two outstanding instances, is credit- able and admirable. movie. In Jan Phe not FLESH” »s Biro Jdan- “POHE WAY OF T was hand-tailored and Furthman to nings’ especial measure, Mr which means Jules that it is constructed along ample lines, with plenty of elbow room, At the start, we see the enormous Emil as a jovial, elegantly whiskered bank Milwaukee, He browbeats underlings, kowtows cashier in his to his boss, does early-morning calis- thenies with his various children, and bowls and drinks beer (in modera- tion) at the Turnverein. He is efficient, self-satisfied generally pleasant fellow. He is sent by the bank to Chi- cago with a wallet full of negoti- able bonds, and on the train he falls afoul of an alluring blonde cutey, an honest, and Re The Unknown. Lon Chaney as an armless wonder who does things wi toes. It isn’t very nice The Missing Link. Fun in Africa, uring the nimble Syd Chaplin and an even nimbler monkey Vanity. Leatrice Joy impersonates a social butterfly who gets a litle teo gay with a burly captain, It’s all: ex tremely foolish and quite dull The Telephone. tertaining rendition ing-girl story, ow (fair) and Holbrook Blir Secret Studio. » the villain’s stud undraped. The h painting he might well have com mitted mayhem on the motion picture it self Bellamy n (excellent) The heroine layed with considerable conviction by Phyllis Haver; when she is done with h whiskers, his bonds, his honor, his he has been shorn of his very identity. At the end, we see him in his third pathetic, broken old man, who picks up waste paper in the summertime and, in winter, ped- dles hot chestnuts. Thus, “The Way of All Flesh” presents Emil Jannings in three of his greatest roles: at the start, as a benevolent Henry VIII; next bewildered Boss Huler of “V . —and, at the end, as the old porter after his descent to the gentlemen's lavatory in “The Last Laugh.” Needless to. say, Mr. Jannings handles all three phases of his réle with delicate skill and tremendous power. He holds together, firmly, might otherwise be a jointed story. character—a what dis- T seems incredibie that the same man directed both “The Rou Riders” and “The Way of All Flesh’ but Victor Fleming happens to be that man. He has done a splendid job—aided, of course, by Mr. Jan- nings, Miss Haver, Belle Bennett and others of the cast—and he has been extraordinarily well advised in the matter of costumes, settings and Milwaukcean atmosphere. “The Way of All Flesh’ must be written down as a fine picture. “Old San Francisco” "THERE has always been consid- crable doubt as to the the San Francisco earthquake (sub- sequently known as “fire”). Now, as the result of careful investigation by the scientific Warner Brothers, the mystery cleared up: it as that the horrifying disaster of 1906 was instigated by God for the purpose of saving Miss Dolores Cos- tello from the clutches of Mr. War- ner Oland. Certainly, if there had becn any other method of rescuing her, God and the Messrs. Warner would have tried it; but Miss Cos- tello was in pretty desperate straits, in the depths of Chinatown, and an earthquake secmed the only way out. “Old San Francise: in’ which these interesting facts are brought to light, is just about the silliest of all the silly melodramas that the sereen has known, It makes utterly no pretense to rhyme or cause of has been see pason, but rushes on madly, from one prepos- terous situation to another, in’ the manner of an old serial. T hurts me beyond measure to say that Miss Costello — my i princess supreme—is not very goo but then, it isn’t any too easy for a girl to play a part in which she is compelled to justify the San Fran- cisco earthquake. dream R. E. Sherwood. cent Tillie the Toiler. Marion Davies as a jazzy stenographer, completely sur- rounded by bum sub-titles. Lost at the Front. This is said to be very funny, because it seems there were an Irishman and a Jew who dressed up as women and enlisted in the Russian Women’s Battalion of Death (which is always good for a laugh). Million Bid. Dolores Costello has troubles with Warner Oland in this one, but there is no carthquake Seventh Heaven. A fine perform- ance by Janet Gaynor in a well-directed drama of Paris during the -war. Mr. Wu. Slow-motion views of Chaney killing various people, himself Is Zat So? A prizefighter a: manager on Fifth Avenue. It ought to have been marvelous—but it’s no more than so-s too Lon includ Developments Annie Laurie. Romantic melodrama in the Highlands, with Lillian Gish not at her best. Resurrection. i well repre- sented on the sereen, thanks to Dolores Del Rio and Edwin Carewe Venus of Venice. Constance madge is very alluring The King of Kings. Mille’s ver 1 of the Korgeous, spectacular a the best possible taste. Camille. The best that can be said for Norma Talmadge in this is that she leaves out most of the coughs. The Rough Riders. A not-too-thrill ing epic of the Spanish War Stark Love; Slide, Kelly, Slide; Chang; What Price Glory; Beau Geste; Old Ironsides and The Big Parade. The best available. Tal- Cecil B. De Gospels—lavish. id not always in comicbooks.com